After a loooong wait the parts have arrived from HK and i've made a start on my HFP quad build. Please take a look, any comments or suggestions are most welcome as its my first build and dont have anyone at home checking on my work.

710mm motor to motor, probbably a bit big but i didnt want to trim the booms untill i'd at least tried it. Any suggestions on the 'best' length?

Folds easily, one reason i chose this frame. Folds even better in + configuration.

Theres a Flyduino power distribution board in there somewhere.

Still to finish is a cover for the HFP board (on the lookout for the right sized tupperware!).

The HFP board is not attached, shorter standoffs and longer screws on the way.

Nice motor mounts, could go X8.

Not bad weight 712g without battery.

FPV gear to add later somehow.

The origional air frame. 'Buy cheap buy twice', so i did, i got two from the start so i have all the spares after crashes. Its very light but also poor quality. It seems that the drill used to make the motor and standoff holes was worn and all the holes were ovalised and needed redrilling in order to build. The carbon sheet is fine for the motor mounts but a but thin for the main plates, i think it could easily break in a crash before the booms. The hardware is also very small and it easy to round out the 1.5mm allen heads. Ultimatly i think i'm going to get a frame from Rusty and maybe reuse this frame with very light motors and 10a esc's and a cheap FC.

So, just need to sort the standoffs/tupperware crash protection, plug in and set up the HFP, double check EVERYTHING and its ready for testing!

Looks good. The only thing I would mention is when you need to get new props get some apc 10x4.7s. They are much better than the epps you have and easier to balance. You will probably find those epps are horribly out of balance out of the packaging.

Looks good. The only thing I would mention is when you need to get new props get some apc 10x4.7s. They are much better than the epps you have and easier to balance. You will probably find those epps are horribly out of balance out of the packaging.

They didn't seem too bad, and was good practice using the prop balancer. They are the GF reinforced ones if it make any difference. I figure crash cheap ones first then get APC's later on.

I think the biggest unknown for me is how long the booms need to be, i see a lot of 500mm quads but does it make sense that the wider the motors the more stable it will be. I want it to be stable and 'lazy' rather that fast and nimble.

The small size is the one I used on my similar sized quad to yours.
The medium size will be used on my X8
The large one carries my lunch when I go flying

Nothing wasted

Regarding length of booms.The longer arms give a more leisurely control of flight.
I found 700mm about right for me. Also the flight case used to transport my quad wont take longer arms.!!

Thanks, I'm happy how the build has come out but there is room for improvement I think. Wires to tidy and take inside the booms. That's later though after I'm flying for a while and it's all confirmed as working.

Thanks for the link, I've found a cd caddy at work that I'll try first though it won't give as much protection as those clip top boxes.

I'm glad you found the 700mm worked for you, I was worried they might cause more vibration or something.

I'm glad I got a lipo alarm, it went off so I landed and just as I touched down two of the props flew off and away. Lesson for today is to tighten the props more, glad it didn't happen in flight. It took me ages to find the cones.

The two flights were short as my 2200mHa lipos haven't arrived so I only have 1500s from my ARdrone, looking forward to longer flight times.

Tried three settings of gain but didn't notice much difference, maybe as there is no wind to react to. It seems very stable. Ill try outside next time as long as the wind is very light.

As you can see I find it hard to keep it in one place, especially altitude/hover. It's ether going up and if I move the stick just one click it's coming down again. That's at about 40% stick. Also if I make any control movements it loses altitude.

Any ideas? I've read something about throttle curves but it sounded complicated.

Flew again today but in the garden, had a crash and broke some props but nothing major. Replaced them and back in the air.

I had a rebuild and tidied up the wiring, colour coding the esc wires so i dont get them mixed up. Also took the power distribution inside the 'dome' and repositioned the rx.

I have a plan to replace the landing gear/battery tray with four legs using two pairs of cf plane landing gear (usualy holds the wheels). Should be stronger, lighter and be high enough to mount the gymbal under and between. I'll just velcro the battery directly.

I've also adjusted my throttle curve on my Tx and can now hold the altitude much easier.

One question i have though is about the battery and current draw. I'm waiting on 3s 2200mAh 20/30c batteries but im worried theyre not right. Heres why. I'm using 3s 1500mAh 25c batteries that i already have but after a full charge if i put any sort of load on them the allarm goes off, if i back off and just hover the alarm will stop. Now i THINK this means that the 'c' rating is not high enough and the motors are drawing power too quickly, if thats the case the batteries i have on order wont be any good ether. I anyone can confirm or correct me that would be great.

Great being able to fly now even if it is only a few minutes at a time.

Unless they are top notch batteries they very seldom have the performance the ratings state. But if yours are what they say the first one has a discharge rate of 1.5A x 25 =37.5A. The ones ordered have a rate of 2.2A x 20c = 44A so they are slightly better. Some of the alarms have no "cushion" and if they see a reduced voltage for even a nanosecond they go off. If it stays on during continuous hard throttle or lifting a little more weight then you may have a problem.

Unless they are top notch batteries they very seldom have the performance the ratings state. But if yours are what they say the first one has a discharge rate of 1.5A x 25 =37.5A. The ones ordered have a rate of 2.2A x 20c = 44A so they are slightly better. Some of the alarms have no "cushion" and if they see a reduced voltage for even a nanosecond they go off. If it stays on during continuous hard throttle or lifting a little more weight then you may have a problem.

Thanks, I'll make use of that calculation in future. I will wait for the batteries to arrive and I'll try them out before I panic and order more. Admittedly they are eBay cheapos so I'm not expecting much. Like the fc, this seems an area where you really can't afford to buy cheap.

Hmm, something strange today. Right from the start it didn't want to take off easily, the motors seemed to 'pulse' and it took about 75% throttle to get off the ground. And then it still had a hoping motion to it. Tried a few times only getting a few feet off the ground but gave up as I didn't wast to crash.

I think it may be motor related. I noticed that one motor was making more noise than the others when they were spun by hand, on closer inspection the shaft was sticking out the bottom of the motor by about 5mm on three of the motors. I think this happened when I had a hard landing on concrete and it slowly flipped over and landed flat on the prop nuts (bullets?). I assume that impact had enough force to push the shaft through the motor. I could lift the bell of the motor up and down on those three motors so I knocked them all back until the circlip was level with the bottom of the motor but it still spun easily. I also made sure the grub screw was nice and tight on top of the motors.

I hope I've not damaged the motors as its the only thing I have changed since it flew fine yesterday.

I saw your motor pics and got ready to say something but decided otherwise. Now that its a little late maybe I will. Most people who first start leave the prop adaptors setting up in the air on top of the shafts. If you flip over with any force the adaptor drives the shaft through the motor and bends or makes a tight fit. It is better to cut the shaft off so enough sticks up in the adaptor and lets it set right on top of the motor bell.